How does this lesson or technique improve student learning?

This lesson improves student learning in that it exposes student misconceptions about revolution and this revolution in particular. There is a surprise and emotional reaction when students learn the actual facts regarding the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Research shows that students tend to recall information better when there is an emotional reaction, which this lesson provides students.

What does it look like in my classroom?

Timeline: 75 minutes

Students are grouped into small groups of 2-3. Each group is provided a packet of photos that pertain to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Students will be told that they must use 8 of photos to create a “book” that sequentially describes the revolution. Beneath the photos, students will write the narration. Instructors may modify the photos the blacken out certain words or context clues to increase the difficulty of the activity. Groups of students will share their books with the entire class while reading their written narration. Approximately 30 minutes is sufficient for this task, especially if the photos are cut out in advance.

The key to this activity (why it works so well for this component):

After each group presents, students will read the article provided on the 1979 Iranian Revolution from Scholastic magazine; students may also read primary source documents such as newspaper articles and view video clips to increase the rigor for older students. Students are encouraged to annotate as they read. After completing the reading, students will write in their journals. In their journals, they will note where their predictions were incorrect. Students will also write a factual summary of the revolution. Students will write why they think they likely got the series of photos in an incorrect sequence. (Women wearing western-style clothing is often the last picture and women wearing hijab is often depicted first when in reality it is the reverse). As a recap, the teacher may wish to show John Greene’s video on this topic “John Green’s Crash Course Iranian Revolution“.

To engage students in higher level thinking, the teacher should lead students in a dialogue that asks students to make connections between this revolution and other revolutions; cause and effect relationships; and how this revolution ties into present-day issues related to terrorism.

Supporting materials

Artifacts to gather for evaluation

The Danielson Connection

This lesson utilizes intra and inter-disciplinary content relationships as it connects this content with other social studies areas such as the rise of Terrorism, ISIS, USSR invasion of Afghanistan, and the causes of revolution generally, including the French Revolution and American Revolution. This lesson utilizes intra and inter-disciplinary content relationships as it connects with language arts content.